About Argyle Winery
Argyle Winery has spent nearly four decades establishing Oregon's credibility as a serious sparkling wine producer — a claim that would have seemed improbable when Dundee winemaker Rollin Soles began the project in 1987. The Willamette Valley's cool climate and extended growing season, which some producers see as a risk, are exactly what sparkling wine production requires: slow ripening, high natural acidity, and gradual flavor development.
The sparkling wines are made using the traditional Champagne method — secondary fermentation in bottle, extended time on the yeast lees (up to five years for the top bottlings), and hand-riddling before disgorgement. The Extended Tirage Brut, spending four years on the lees, shows complexity and autolytic character that rivals producers in Champagne at a fraction of the price.
Argyle also produces exceptional still wines that are sometimes overshadowed by the sparkling reputation. The Nuthouse Riesling, from a single high-elevation site, is one of Oregon's finest expressions of the variety. The Pinot Noir bottlings, particularly from the Spirithouse and Nuthouse sites, show the restraint and site-specificity that define the best Willamette Valley producers.